Friday, July 18, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Downtown casinos agree to slots at Neonopolis

Deal for entertainment complex must go before LV council

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The Fremont Street Experience has agreed to allow its struggling downtown neighbor, Neonopolis, to operate a limited number of slot machines.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Thursday a deal has been struck with the consortium of downtown casinos that permits a total of 25 slots in Neonopolis' restaurants and bars. Gaming was prohibited by the 1998 development agreement that provided $32 million in public money to help develop the project.

Describing the deal as allowing "minimal gaming," Goodman said he thought it would keep customers lingering at the $100 million downtown redevelopment project that has seen too few customers and too many fleeing tenants since it opened in May 2002.

"I can see the pros of that," the mayor said. "I went into The Saloon on Tuesday night. I saw people drinking and having a good time. But I think they would have stayed a little longer had there been slots to play at the bar."

Fremont Street Experience President Mark Paris confirmed the casinos' willingness to support slot machines at Neonopolis.

The proposal could come before the City Council as early as next month.

Goodman first voiced support for slot machines at Neonopolis in February after being approached by the managers of Jillian's, a restaurant and anchor tenant at the mall.

At that time, the idea got a cool reception from Fremont Street Experience executives, who said Neonopolis was meant to complement, not compete.

"Is that what we wanted when Neonopolis was built? No," Paris said Thursday. "That wasn't the original concept, but if the developer feels it will have a significant impact on his business, we're supporting that."

But Paris does not expect the effect at Neonopolis will be dramatic.

"Twenty-five slots won't secure the success of Neonopolis," he said.

The management of The Saloon thinks slots will make a difference for his and similar businesses.

"It would certainly help to produce revenue for the restaurants," said Ark Las Vegas Restaurant Corp. Senior Vice President Paul Gordon. "We're all kind of struggling to increase sales."

Gordon said that without gaming, his business is at a disadvantage as it competes with surrounding casinos for customers.

"If I had crowds, I wouldn't bother (to pursue slots)," he said. "I don't have crowds."

The casinos' objection to the proposal was not competition, Paris said. Rather, it represented a departure from the mall's original concept as a retail and entertainment complex.

That objection is not the only time Neonopolis has been viewed as deviating from its original mission.

Last month, mall management leased about 13,000 square feet, less than 5 percent of the mall's total floor space, as offices for local tavern operator Resort Gaming Group.

At the time Goodman said transforming the mall into an office building was "out of line."

On Thursday, the mayor said he has spoken with ownership and has been assured he will be notified of similar leases beforehand. But, he said, he understood the complex did not plan to continue leasing office space.

"If it were to continue, I'd ask the city attorney to file a lawsuit," he said.